May 5, 2009

Chairman Tucker and Members of the Committee,

Thanks you for this opportunity to speak today. My name is Nancy Banks and I am the Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist Massachusetts Action Network and represent Unitarian Universalists throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I am also a resident of Acton.

Our faith as Unitarian Universalists calls us to speak for the homeless. In 1988, recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, we as Unitarian Universalists passed a resolution holding that access to affordable, habitable housing is a fundamental right in a just society. It is a right that was earlier recognized in the passage of the Universalist Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. Article 25 states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care…” In passing our resolution, Unitarian Universalist were further called to work to establish, strengthen, and fund programs to assist low-income individuals, families, and the homeless on local, state, provincial, and national levels. In Massachusetts, UU Mass Action has worked to expand Homeless Prevention programs and increase the number of affordable housing units.

The right to affordable housing, which has been a challenge in Massachusetts in good economic times, is at a crisis stage. Unitarian Universalist churches throughout the state including Fitchburg, Barnstable, Worcester, Wayland, Sherborn, (to name just a few) join with other faith groups to provide shelter and services to homeless families and individuals. While we applaud and support these churches for reaching out to those in need and doing this critical work, interim shelter is not a solution. Long-term use of interim shelters imposes significant stress on the family and potentially causes long-term and costly damage to the integrity of the family unit.

Why housing in the face of so many needs? Simply because housing is the building block to meeting the range of family and individual needs. A member of my own congregation who works with the homeless in Boston brought to my attention, the Housing First model. This model recognizes that the first step towards stability is to meet the housing and treatment needs of the chronically homeless. Housing should not be a reward for good behavior, but rather the foundation for all other services. Housing security is not only a basic right, but provides the basis to begin treating and addressing family and individual needs. Today we are not only ignoring the foundation for rehabilitation of the chronically homeless but also creating a new population who may themselves become chronically homeless due to the extreme stress of being homeless.

We urge the committee to support S666 as a step towards preserving the precious units of affordable housing in the Commonwealth. We cannot afford to give up a single unit and further disrupt lives.

Thank you